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32 thoughts on “Pennies”

haha i wrote a similar piece a few years ago…our fear was def dislodging the train…this brought back some cool memories…i grew up by the tracks…i miss them when i am away…being at my moms house right now, i heard the train this morning…

Bad boy!..I never knew that just a penny could do that, not when you see all of the garbage they have lined all the way along them these days too but, I suppose logically, it could happen. Still, as kids, we only ever see the fun of it and thrill at the sense of danger.I smiled a this Nico, remembering my own … bad days… lol

I always wanted to do this, Nico! Never lived close enough to train tracks though to make it practical. Your words though captured that feeling of mischievous adventure we all had as children. Thank you.

Thanks Brian. One of my childhood houses was only about 50 ft. from the tracks–everyone that came to visit (especially friends spending the night) complained about the noise. We were used to it and never gave it any thought. Have fun at Mom's!

I used to do this only it was in England and we used to use halfpennies hoping to flatten them into pennies, but usually they were so thin and misshapen that they were worthless. We didn't even derail the train. Thanks for the memory Nico.

Thanks Rob–I don't even think we had a real purpose in trying to squash the pennies. Some of them I remember boring a hole in and wearing as some kind of pendant on a string. I like the way you thought, though, trying to make whole pennies by flattening halves!

Oh my! This takes me back. Like my nephew Robin (Old Egg), I used to do this in England, with the added thrill that our trains were electrified – the current of 1100 volts being carried by a 'third rail' hard by one of the track rails. I once had to recover a cricket ball that had been 'hit for six' over the boundary fence. The ball ended up on the railway track, right underneath the 'live rail'. That was one very, very slow and careful retrieval, I can tell you. Great memories.

Thanks Robyn. Most of the fun came from doing something dangerous (whether the danger was real or supposed) or forbidden. We weren't allowed to even go near the tracks, so of course we spent as much time playing on them as possible.